Scientific Team

Johannes Fruehauf, M.D.

Vice President, Research

Dr. Fruehauf is VP, Research at Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and co-inventor of transkingdom RNAi (tkRNAi). At Cequent, Dr. Fruehauf directs the research and development of novel therapeutics based on Cequent’s proprietary technology. Prior to Cequent, Dr. Fruehauf was a group leader at the GI Cancer Laboratory at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. Prior to his tenure at BIDMC, his clinical work focused on oncology, with an emphasis on breast cancer and gynecologic oncology, where he conducted clinical trials for neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer at the University Hospital Mannheim. Dr. Fruehauf received his M.D. from the University of Frankfurt Medical School in 1997 and completed his doctoral thesis from the University of Heidelberg in 2000.

F. Stephen Laroux, Ph.D.
Director, Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases

Dr. Laroux is Director, Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases at Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  In this position, Dr. Laroux leads and directs screening and efficacy studies for targets thought to be important in chronic inflammatory diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) using Cequent`s tkRNAi delivery platform. This effort encompasses targets investigated in the Company`s Novartis partnership as well as a pipeline of in-house targets for IBD.  Dr. Laroux completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School where he conducted research focused on innate immune responses to bacteria as well as the role of the immune system in chronic disease.  Prior to his tenure at BIDMC, Dr. Laroux conducted research into the immunology of diseases such as IBD, rheumatoid arthritis, ischemia-reperfusion and myocardial infarction, co-authoring over 40 publications in peer reviewed journals.  Dr. Laroux received his Master`s degree in Human Physiology in 2000 and his PhD (Chancellor`s Award) in Molecular and Cellular Physiology in 2003 both from Louisiana State University.

Sarah Phenix
Purchasing/Lab Manager

Microbiology Group:

Moreshwar Vaze, Ph.D.

Group Leader, Microbiology

James Lamoureux
Research Associate

Ilya Zlatkovsky
Research Associate

Joel Greenbowe
Research Associate

In Vivo Group:

Natalya Bodyak, Ph.D.
Group Leader, In Vivo Biology

Xuelin Cui, Ph.D.
Scientist

Juan Du
Research Associate


Biochemistry/ RNAi Group:

Julie Sahalie
Research Associate

Caitlin Buttaro
Research Associate


Inflammatory Diseases Group:

Jessica Sexton, Ph.D.
Scientist

Anthony Baldor
Research Associate

Karen Wang
Research Associate

Lydia Lamriben
Research Associate

Natalie Warholic
Research Associate


Chemistry Manufacturing and Control Group (CMC):

Alex Borrelli
Quality Control Manager

Naimesh Kotadia
Fermentation Engineer

Stephanie Callahan
Research Associate – Fermentation


Platform Development Group:

Noel J. Sauer, Ph.D.
Group Leader, Platform Development

Tong Wu
Research Associate

Claire Tien
Research Associate